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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-05-26 Correspondence - Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings - I Don’t Need You to Stop Driving for a WeekFrom:Disability Rights Montana - Growth Rings To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]I Don’t Need You to Stop Driving for a Week Date:Monday, October 5, 2026 7:11:11 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Every paid subscription supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is nowhere near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! I Don’t Need You to Stop Driving fora Week Give me one day. READ IN APP I have a challenge for you. Tomorrow, don’t drive. OCT 5 In the video above, I share a snippet form my morning bike commute as a voluntary non-driver this week. In the video below (which received over 16,500 views on Instagram over the weekend), Theresa shows you a little of what being an involuntary non-driver, all day, every day, in Montana looks like. I’m just asking you to join me in trying to learn more about our transportation infrastructure and the great depth of knowledge fulltime non-drivers bring that us part-timers simply can’t. It’s an exercise in humility and empathy. Let’s recognize that as drivers, we take a lot of stuff for granted, but we also lack a lot of practical knowledge and skill that non-drivers have cultivated over years of lived experiences. So, go out there and see for yourself or a day or two this week. That’s it. You don’t need special equipment. You don’t need elaborate plans. You don’t need to agree with me about transportation policy. You don’t even need to make it through the whole day. Just leave the keys at home and try to do whatever you were going to do anyway. Then notice what happens. Maybe nothing does; but Maybe the grocery trip becomes complicated; Maybe an appointment requires an hour of planning; Maybe something three miles away suddenly feels surprisingly far; Maybe you have to ask someone for a ride; Maybe you look for a bus route you’ve never looked for before; Maybe you discover there simply isn’t any way to get where you were going without driving. That discovery is the point. We are in the second half of Week Without Driving, an annual challenge designed to help people better understand the transportation barriers faced by people who cannot drive, and the valuable knowledge disabled non-drivers can bring to any conversation that is serious about transportation policy. You can read more in last week’s newsletter if you missed it. Transportation is “BelongingInfrastructure” DAVID CARLSON ·SEP 28 But, if you are just now considering squeezing in a day of non-driving, know that I actually think joining late has an advantage. There is less temptation to make this about making some grand gesture or toughing it out for the “long” haul. Instead, you can focus on the very specific, very individualized things that can be learned by navigating a trip or two or just one or two day and then examining what you think and feel about what you experienced. What does my community look like when I take driving away? How does that make me feel in the moment? For many Montanans, the answer reveals something much bigger than transportation. Driving determines access to work, healthcare, groceries, school, friends, family, worship, civic participation, and the thousand ordinary things that make a place feel like home. That is why transportation is belonging infrastructure. On the What You Can Learn When You Leave Your Keys at Home Read full story surface, transportation decisions and investments may look like picking sides among cars, busses, bikes, and wheelchairs. But in reality, transportation policy is really about the life you access through transportation, not whether we like or dislike a particular form of transportation. Of course, those of us doing the experiment have a privilege built into it: we can start and stop whenever we want to. We can pick up our keys again. People who cannot drive do not have that option. So participating for a day doesn’t make us experts in the experience of non- drivers. But it should make us intensely curious about their expertise. That may be the most important lesson of Week Without Driving. The people who encounter transportation barriers every single day aren’t merely people with transportation “needs.” They are people with knowledge. They know where systems fail. They know the workarounds. They know which improvements would actually make a difference. Our job is to notice, and then listen. Week Without Driving ends October 8. There’s still time. Give me one day. Then tell me what you saw. David David Carlson, J.D. Executive Director Disability Rights Montana You’re currently a free subscriber to Life Beyond Compliance. Upgrading to paid subscriptions supports Disability Rights Montana’s work across Montana. Federal funding is no where near sufficient to meet the advocacy and culture change work that is needed. You can help fund the future you want to see! Upgrade to paid LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Disability Rights Montana1022 Chestnut Street, Helena, MT 59601 Unsubscribe